Svidler remains unbeaten

By Arvind Aaron

HAIFA (ISRAEL), FEB. 5. Form and scoring rhythm is on Peter Svidler's side as he has established a one-point lead after nine rounds in the Wydra International chess tournament at the Haifa International Convention Centre here on Friday.

Svidler is on seven points from nine games and Viswanathan Anand is a point behind him and in striking distance. Five rounds remain to be played in this event which has a first prize of $ 5,000. It is a rapid tournament and players are given 25 minutes at the start and they get three seconds for making each move.

Svidler seems invincible and is applying caution where necessary. He is the only undefeated player. Anand defeated Boris Gelfand, the only other undefeated player until the eighth round. ``It will be hard to match the plus nine scored by Vishy (Anand) and Judit Polgar last year,'' leader Svidler said. Anand started the morning with a spirited endgame victory over Lev Psakhis in a marathon encounter in the fourth round. The advancing king of the Indian tilted the scales in the otherwise level minor piece ending.

Svidler overcame compatriot Bareev with the black pieces to maintain his victory wave in 38 moves despite the presence of opposite colour bishops. Avrukh opened his scoring at the cost of overnight leader Greenfeld by pinning a knight in 31 moves. Gelfand was lucky to get a draw in 43 moves from his former second Huzman after they reached a bishop ending with the latter enjoying an outside passed pawn.

In the fifth round, Anand repeated the position with the black pieces and allowed Greenfeld to get a draw from a queen's Indian defence game.

Psakhis shocked Bareev in a game marred by time trouble where the former used an outside passed pawn to cash in on his advantage. Gelfand blocked Svidler's free-scoring of points with a draw after 49 moves. Huzman beat Avrukh in 55 moves when his outside passed pawn proved deadly in a knight ending.

``He asked for a draw and I decided to stay calm,'' Anand said about his 22-move draw with the black pieces in the sixth round with GM Alexander Huzman.

In the other games of this round, Bareev's sense of urgency to recover from his string of defeats cost him half a point as he had checks by draw against Gelfand. Svidler beat Greenfeld and kept his rhythm going. Bareev's Friday was a washout. His knight sacrifice on the 18th move with the black pieces did not find compensation as Anand went on to win his seventh round game comfortably.

Gelfand who was under pressure in the Sicilian defence sacrificed two knights for a rook and pawn and Anand exhibited that it was not enough by winning the eighth round game in 45 moves.

In the ninth round, Svidler's feeling of content led the Petroff's defence game to a quick draw when he went for a forced exchange of queens out of the opening. Anand who played black had little chance to play for a victory and the game was over in less than 10 minutes. Bareev who had contributed to the day's decisive games, losing five in a single day, won one finally but still stays in last place.

lThe results:

Round three: Svidler bt Psakhis; Greenfeld drew with Gelfand; Huzman drew with Bareev; Avrukh lost to Anand.

Round four: Anand bt Psakhis; Gelfand drew with Huzman; Avrukh bt Greenfeld; Bareev lost to Svidler.

Round five: Greenfeld drew with Anand; Svidler drew with Gelfand; Psakhis bt Bareev; Huzman bt Avrukh.

Round six: Huzman drew with Anand; Svidler bt Greenfeld; Bareev lost to Gelfand; Avrukh bt Psakhis.

Round seven: Avrukh lost to Svidler; Gelfand bt Psakhis; Anand bt Bareev; Greenfeld drew with Huzman.

Round eight: Anand bt Gelfand; Bareev lost to Avrukh; Psakhis bt Greenfeld; Svidler drew with Huzman.

Round nine: Svidler drew with Anand; Huzman lost to Psakhis; Avrukh drew with Gelfand; Greenfeld lost to Bareev.

Standings (after nine rounds): 1 P. Svidler (Rus) 7/9; 2 V. Anand (Ind) 6; 3 B. Gelfand (Isr) 5.5; 4- 5 A. Huzman (Isr), L. Psakhis (Isr) 4 each; 6-7 B. Avrukh (Isr), A. Greenfeld (Isr) 3.5 each; 8 E. Bareev (Rus) 2.5.

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